Chapter Three
When Hollypaw woke up the next day, she breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, she thought. No more cleaning out the elders' bedding! She got up happily and saw that the other apprentices were still sleeping—all except Cinderpaw. She must be out in the main clearing.
When she stepped out into the clearing, she saw Millie and Graystripe sharing tongues, Firestar speaking with Brambleclaw, his deputy; and Sandstorm was speaking with Honeypaw. But no Cinderpaw… Thinking that maybe she had gone on the dawn patrol, Hollypaw went to say good morning to Jaypaw.
She walked in to see Jaypaw sitting beside Foxkit, who had a small cut on his front paw. Icekit was prodding at the ground a mouse-length away from him with a worried expression on her face.
"I'm so sorry!" Icekit cried. Foxkit looked at her.
"I'm a warrior," he purred proudly. "I can handle anything!"
"Then why were your eyes all wet before?" Icekit mewed with a sniffle.
"Because… I got dust in them from when I rolled over," Foxkit told her, looking down at the ground. Icekit giggled.
"I hurt you," she said. "Admit it!"
"You didn't hurt me," he hissed, lifting his paw a little way off the ground.
"Did to," Icekit complained. Hollypaw giggled at how cute they were being.
"Will you two stop fighting?" Jaypaw growled at them. They immediately shut up and stared at him with eyes as wide as an owl's. Even though he sounded annoyed, there was a glint of joy sparkling in his eyes.
"Hi, Jaypaw," Hollypaw purred.
"Oh, hi, Hollypaw," he meowed, before turning back to the kits. "Don't worry; Cinderpaw is getting Foxkit some cobwebs. Then he won't be hurt anymore." He smiled at Icekit who gave a happy sniffle.
"I'm not hurt!" Foxkit insisted, stomping his injured foot down on the ground. He winced and gave a small squeak.
"I told you!" Icekit whimpered.
"He's going to be fine," Jaypaw assured. Icekit looked down at the ground. CinderpawHollypaw recalled. Why is she here? The moment she thought that, the gray she-cat walked into view from the back of the den carrying a small wad of cobwebs in her teeth. She sat beside Jaypaw, almost so that their pelts touched, and then purred to Foxkit:
"Okay, so here are your cobwebs." Foxkit looked happy, but as Hollypaw could see was trying not to show it. Cinderpaw handed Jaypaw the cobwebs.
"Thanks," Foxkit meowed, letting Jaypaw press the cobwebs onto Foxkit's paw. Relief washed over Icekit's expression. Jaypaw took the cobwebs off after a few moments and instructed Foxkit to lick his wound, then it would get better.
"Okay," Foxkit mewed.
"Now, it's time to get you both back to your den," Cinderpaw informed them.
"Soon we're going to be apprentices!" Foxkit purred.
"Yea!" Icekit chimed in.
"Yes you are," Cinderpaw cooed, and she led them out of the medicine cat den and to the nursery.
"Hey," Hollypaw said to Jaypaw. He turned his sightless eyes on her.
"Yea?" he meowed. "What is it?"
"How come Cinderpaw was here?" she asked. "She's not training to be a medicine cat apprentice, too, is she?"
"No," Jaypaw laughed. "She's just helping out. She said that she's bored."
"Well, Cloudtail and Brackenfur were supposed to take us on a hunting patrol today," she meowed, twitching her ear with annoyance. "So she won't be bored for long." She paused. "Where's Leafpool?"
"Talking with Firestar," Jaypaw replied. "Why are you suddenly so accusing?" he added, the fur on his shoulders starting to rise.
"Why are you suddenly so interested in my friend?" Hollypaw snapped back, and she stalked out of the medicine cat den. Thoughts began to run around in her head like frantic mice:
What if she does decide to become a medicine cat apprentice? What if Cinderpaw begins to ignore her responsibilities? What if she starts to ignore me? What if she likes Jaypaw better than me—?
At the last thought, Hollypaw stopped herself. She would never wish anything bad on one of her best friends! She could not allow herself to actually become jealous of her brother, just because Cinderpaw was becoming his friend. Stop being so selfish.
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Hollypaw was lying in the apprentice's den later on that day when Lionpaw walked in with a plump bird. He sat next to her and began to eat. Hollypaw sighed. When he didn't respond, she sighed again, but louder.
"Huh?" Lionpaw looked up. "Oh." He cleared his throat. "Hello there, dear sister," he began in a robotic tone. "Is something wrong?" Hollypaw giggled and flicked him with her tail.
"Actually, yes," she mewed.
"What?" he asked, pushing the bird over to Hollypaw for her to have some.
"Thanks," she said, taking a small bite, before beginning to speak. "Notice how close Jaypaw and Cinderpaw have been lately?" Lionpaw shook his head from side to side. "Well, I have. And… all of oday, Cinderpaw has been with him. She's not paying any attention to me!"
"Sounds like somebody is bit jealous," Lionpaw said with a chuckle.
"I am not jealous!" Hollypaw spat.
"Well, if you're so 'not jealous'," Lionpaw meowed, "then why is it bothering you?"
"I don't…" Hollypaw hesitated. "What if she starts to ignore battle training?"
"I doubt she'd do that," Lionpaw meowed after swallowing. Hollypaw looked down at her paws.
"I hope you're right," she whispered.
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It was two days later, and Hollypaw was on a hunting patrol with Cloudtail, Cinderpaw, Brightheart, and Brackenfur. Determined to show her mentor what she had learned, she had all of her senses alert.
"Hey, Hollypaw?" Cinderpaw mewed.
"Yea?"
"Do you think your brother is a bit… stingy?" Cinderpaw asked.
"Lionpaw? No," Hollypaw answered.
"No, not Lionpaw," Cinderpaw giggled. "Jaypaw."
"Uh… I guess," Hollypaw said. "Only a little. Once you get to know him, though, he's pretty cool."
"Oh, alright," Cinderpaw mewed.
Clouds had been hanging over the forest for days now, but it never seemed to rain. The air was getting thicked now, and Hollypaw knew that soon it would. The wind picked up, and a strong gust suddenly blew Hollypaw forward, messing up her footing. Cinderpaw giggled and Hollypaw smiled back. I'm glad we're friends again, Hollypaw thought cheerfully.
"Brackenfur!" Hollypaw whispered all of a sudden. "I smell mouse!" The fresh scent of prey hit her nose and she inhaled it deeply, glad to be upwind. Soon, she spotted the small creature. There!
Padding forward as slow as a snail, she was almost close enough to pounce. Then, Hollypaw felt a small droplet of water dab her nose. She shook it off and padded forward. And… pounce! A water droplet hit the mouse's head and it ran in fear, leaving Hollypaw to pounce on air.
"Fox dung!" she hissed. Cinderpaw padded over to her.
"You'll get it next time," she said. Hollypaw's heart warmed.
"That wasn't your fault," Brackenfur mewed, coming to stand by Hollypaw's side.
"Thanks," she replied.
"Maybe we should get going?" Brightheart suggested, her good eye twinkling with worry.
"It looks like there's going to be a storm," Cinderpaw added.
"Good observation," Cloudtail purred. Cinderpaw's ears pricked with happiness. A crack of thunder sounded overhead, and the rain began to come down harder.
"Yea, and we better hurry," Brightheart meowed. "Otherwise we'll be swimming back to camp." Brackenfur nodded and the group pelted through the trees back to the ThunderClan camp. Hollypaw blinked rain out of her eyes all along the way, and struggled a bit to keep up with the older cats. Cinderpaw, on the other paw, looked pretty happy. Why is she so happy? Hollypaw wondered, suspiciously.
When they reached the camp, the rain was falling in a downpour. Upset that she didn't catch anything, but glad to be back, Hollypaw rushed to the apprentice's den. As she noticed, Cinderpaw hadn't followed her. Hollypaw stuck her head out of the den entrance to see Cinderpaw's tail disappearing in the medicine cat den. With a quick glance up at the sky, Hollypaw raced across the clearing and after her friend.
Shaking the rain off her pelt, Hollypaw stepped into the medicine cat den to see Cinderpaw, Jaypaw, and Leafpool. Leafpool was crushing a few herbs into a poultice; Jaypaw and Cinderpaw were touching muzzles in greeting.
"Hi," Hollypaw spoke up. Cinder flicked her head around to face her friend, while Jaypaw looked surpised, as if not expecting his sister to be here.
"Want to come to the apprentice's den with me?" Hollypaw asked Cinderpaw.
"Well, I already promised Jaypaw I'd help him out a bit," Cinderpaw said. "And he told me he'd teach me about a few herbs." Hollypaw's tail drooped.
"Oh," she muttered. "Alright, see you around." Glancing at her brother, and then at her so-called "friend", she left the den, disappointed. They're just friends, she tried to tell herself. Nothing more. Why are you getting so jealous? Suddenly, she realized that she was jealous. Plus, she had the strange feeling in her stomach that they weren't just friends. Besides, Hollypaw tried to reassure herself. Jaypaw is going to be a medicine cat—he can't fall in love.